The Oracle of the Phantasmalore
by patternblue
Summary: Seven years after the war with Zaibach Van is haunted by thoughts of Hitomi and confused by his changing feelings for Merle as his arranged marriage looms in the near future. To top it off a strange visitor is stirring up more than just trouble.
1. Chapter 1 A Light in the Sky

**Chapter 1: A Light in the Sky**

It was the dead of night. The twin moons hung in the sky bearing their full glow upon Fanelia and in a clearing where a fresh water pool sparkled in the thick warm summer darkness, a man stood.

His sturdy figure strong against the light of the moons he stared skyward. His eyes reflected back a certain sadness, the sadness of knowing too much of the world for one still in his youth, still in his prime. The man sighed, dropping his head into his strong hand and pushing back his loose raven hair in one smooth motion. He clambered onto a large white rock glistening in the moonlight and settled himself comfortably. Reaching under his cloak he retrieved a leather pouch and uncapped the spout. Taking a quick swig, he shook his head sharply and coughed. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Good stuff." He cracked hoarsely. He plopped the pouch down beside him on the rock and let out a huff. He rubbed his face in thought which quickly turned to scratching as his new beard was itching him something awful. As a king it was important for him to live the old adage 'a real man has hair on his back, hair on his chest, hair on his face,' but so far his five-day shadow had done little but irritate him. Anyway, it would be grown in good and proper by the time his bride-to-be and her entourage showed up.

Van wondered how he managed to have the strength to return as King reuniting his people and rebuilding Fanelia, but somehow still bend to the old fashioned laws of the advising council. He'd pretty much left them to do their bureaucratic bullshit while he took over the important stuff like supervising the new city plans and giving pep talks to the weary Fanelians. In the meantime the old men had decided he needed to get cracking on producing future kings and took it upon themselves to choose a "suitable" queen. Some snooty self-righteous bitch from Calcaris. Not that Van had been given a chance to actually meet this girl – and she **was** just a girl, 14 no less – but everyone knew that Calcarisians were all snooty self-righteous bitches. They started more holy wars than any other nation, with "the word" from their crazy three-headed goddess to rationalize every single one. It made Calcaris a very unpopular country with few allies, despite their rich resources. Perhaps it was not so surprising that Calcaris sent aid to Fanelia when they began reconstruction, and perhaps it was no surprise that the old men of the advising council had decided that Calcaris' fourth princess was the ideal candidate to be Fanelia's future queen. Now they'd have Fanelia on their side, and Van was not looking forward to putting out someone else's fires.

This wasn't how Van thought his life was going to turn out. After all the adventures he'd had just a few years ago, after everything he'd seen and done, and now he was going to be just another one of those guys trapped in a loveless marriage getting the life sucked out of him.

"Van-samaaa!" two furry arms wrapped around his neck.

"Merle keep it down! You'll wake the whole city!" Van chuckled. Merle grabbed his liquor pouch and helped herself to a slurp. She tossed it aside, sputtering.

"I can't help it, I'm just so glad I found you. When I saw you weren't in your room I was so worried! You can't go out without telling anyone!" She scolded.

"And just what were you doing in my room in the middle of the night?" Merle put on her best saucy face.

"I was gonna offer you my body and my undying love!" Merle's jokes were more awkward than funny lately. She squirmed a little, then smirked tensely.

Seriously I had a bad dream that I couldn't find you and I just had to go see you. Then when I went to go check you really**were** gone!"

"Ah, so your dream came true my little fortune teller." Van teased and reached over to rough up her hair. Merle saw a sad twinge in his eye then, only for a second, and he looked away into the distance. Merle decided to change the subject.

"So my big hairy king," she said, hanging an arm around his neck buddy-style and pinching his prickly chin with the other hand, "Soon enough we'll see what **misses**Van is going to be like."

"Yeah..."

Merle searched her mind hopelessly for something else witty to say but gave up and stared at the moons. After a few minutes of awkward silence she said,

"You really miss her don't you? Even after all these years." Van was silent, his strong square jaw clenched and his shaggy hair hid the look in his eye. Merle gave up and gave him a weak hug before trudging quietly away back toward the palace.

If only _she_ had stayed. No religion, no law, no man on Gaea would have stopped him from choosing _her_ as his bride if only she had stayed with him. He would have proposed right away if...

A flash in the distance cut through his thoughts. A pillar of light streaked down from the sky somewhere ahead in the dark forest.

"Hitomi!"

Van bolted from the rock, running at full tilt. He ran it through his mind; _how far was it? Memorize the location, look at it! How far? _

It was gone an instant later. He kept on, vaulting into the brush, scraggly tree branches catching at his clothes and holding him back from _her. _His powerful arms splintered the frail wood and he scrambled through the thick woods ripping his cloak off and leaving it behind. He trod on, breathing hard now and clamouring over fallen trees and stumps.

_Was it this way? Or..._

"Hitomi!" he shouted, hoping to hear that soft voice cry his name back in the darkness.

Nothing.

"Hitomi!" again. He looked around, helpless and blind in the deep woods. He groaned with frustration, grabbing a hank of his hair and cursing. He pressed on, slower now, wondering if he was just seeing things. He looked down at his clothes, his shirt ripped to shreds with red scratches and cuts all over his chest and back. He stumbled into a clearing at last able to get his bearings. He breathed deeply and looked up at the Mystic Moon.

_That did just happen, right? _

Something like a sigh made him snap like a cat, his breath caught in his throat. Then from the corner of his eye a glimpse of something blue in the gully. His heart pounded in his ears, he felt like he was running ten steps for every one taken.

Then he was standing over her. His stomach knotted up like he was going to puke.


	2. Chapter 2 Black and Blue

Disclaimer: The world of Gaea, Fanelia, Van Fanel, Merle and Escaflowne are owned by the original creators of The Vision of Escaflowne series. Original characters are owned by me.

**Chapter 2: Black and Blue**

Van just stood and stared. All the blood was drained from his face, his body like a stone pillar.

A short skirt and leather boots, a tight black shirt and sleeves that only went halfway up her arm. And **blue hair**! This was **not** Hitomi. Van began to feel a spark of rage growing in his stomach, realizing the gods were playing tricks with him.

_What the hell is this? _

He felt his face getting hot and he slumped over the girl. He stared at her hard and then he felt his fingers clenching into fists. The girl made a sound and scrunched up her eyes, then opened them slowly. She shrieked and scrambled to get away from the scruffy man, tripping and stumbling.

"Stay away from me! These boots are steel-toed and I **will** use 'em!" she cried, her voice was cracking and betraying her. Van's eyes were piercing, his jaw set.

"Shut up" he said.

"W-what?"

"Just shut up and calm down. I didn't bring you here and I'm not going to hurt you so just take it easy. "

He stood up and took a breath and tried to soften his demeanour. "My name's Van." The girl was dumbfounded and still scared but she managed to compose herself enough to mumble:

"Cybil... I'm Cybil"

Van stood there, still staring at her. She had to be a witch or something, those clothes! Her eyes were rimmed intensely. Beneath the assault of black he saw vulnerability.

Cybil tried to come up with something to break the awkward silence. Her mouth and throat felt like she'd been eating sandpaper. She finally tore herself from his gaze and looked at the rest of him. She only managed a tentative observation:

"You're bleeding."

Van looked down self-consciously.

"Just a few scratches." The spell of silence broken, he turned abruptly and began walking away.

"Uh—hey! Wait!" Cybil stepped forward. Van tossed his words over his shoulder at her.

"I'm heading home. You better come with me, I'll figure out a way to get you back to the mystic moon." Cybil felt a strange relief wash over her, then she stopped.

"Mystic moon?" She turned and looked into the sky. Her eyes gaped at the sight.

_The moon and—Earth! That was Earth wasn't it?_

"Where am I?" she whispered half to herself.

"Fanelia, my country. This world is called Gaea."

The trek back was long and tiring in the sticky night. Even more tiring to Van was Cybil's incessant questioning of everything. She mostly wondered how she got there in the first place since she was minding her own business when she was engulfed in light. He didn't know. How was it even possible? He didn't know. How can Gaea be so close to Earth and yet no one can see it? He didn't know that either. If he didn't know any of that how did he know how to send her back?

As the two descended the hill into the valley Cybil saw the breathtaking sight of Fanelia bathed in the early morning light. It was so natural and so rugged, a handsome city. Cybil walked on dreamily, the sights and sounds of Fanelia lifting her weariness. Through the twisting streets people busied themselves with work and there was much work to be done. They bustled about to and fro, rushing and bumping as one great river. So many buildings looked like they were beaten and the sound of hammers accosted her from all sides. All around people offered their concern for Van's shallow wounds. Van accepted a tunic offered by an old woman. Some gruff men shouted orders for more wood. Somewhere nearby, sudden laughter. A baker called out the morning bread sales. When Cybil's attention turned back to the road her scruffy guide had been absorbed by the swimming people.

Cybil rushed ahead, offending a few people as she pushed by. She caught up to a queer sort of intersection from which many paths extended like tendrils.

_This is __**not**__ happening._

Looking around at the squirming roads offered to her, she realized that people were staring at her. Staring at first, then circling. A very big man appeared.

"Fifty silver," he stated.

"For...?" As if she had any money anyway. The man lowered his voice,

"We'll discuss that when we get off the street hmm?"

Finally it clicked in.

"Augh! God NO! Gross! Get away from me you pervert!" If people weren't staring at her before, they certainly were now. Cybil's chest tightened. The giant man was quickly turning from embarrassed to angry. His voice was like gristle.

"Watch what you say whore." Behind the stoic exterior was a flame only visible through his eyes. There was that sandpaper mouth again. Her head flicked back and forth searching the crowd for a helpful face.

A strong hand gripped her wrist firmly and tugged her away.

The large man grew smaller as Cybil was dragged away, further and further from the flashing eyes.

"Keep up will you!" Van barked. Cybil turned to stare at the back of his head. Her mind thanked him for saving her and threw her arms around him, but her body limply stumbled along, knees like noodles.

She was still feeling dazed when they reached the palace. Inside, servants bustled about with their chores, some casting sideways glances and some just plain gawking at her. The place was impressive if a bit... medieval. But Cybil loved that kind of stuff. She had always loved fantasy stories set in times past, dragons and kings and magic. Then again this was no story. She was here alright; no amount of pinching had worked thus far. After climbing to the upper floors of the great building Van called a bony young man over and said something to him quietly, then turned to Cybil.

"Follow him to your room. You can take a bath if you want and get some sleep. I'll have some food and fresh clothes sent up."

"King Van!" a tight-sounding voice from behind. Van cursed in whisper. The voice belonged to a painfully sour-looking man in rich robes, followed by a gaggle of other similarly sour-looking men in similarly rich robes.

"I'll try to get you home tonight," Van finished. He shot Cybil a very serious look with a short command to go with the servant immediately. The servant dashed off and Cybil wasted no time in catching up to him. She certainly did not want to find out why those men looked so angry. From down the hall Cybil could hear only a few demanding words;

"Where... all night... that girl... irresponsible..."

_King?_

Cybil sat staring out the window, chin resting on her hand.

_**That**__ guy is the king? He's so... normal. And kind of a jerk too. _

She thought she heard a small tinkling of a bell. There was a knock at the door. When Cybil opened it she got yet another shock.

_Cat woman!_

No, not her favourite super villan, rather a woman who looked exactly like a cat. The cat-woman smiled a pointy smile.

"Some clothes," she said, "and something to eat." Cybil was too dumbfounded, it was all too much to handle.

_Earth in the sky, this crazy world, just met a king, now a cat woman? Too much, it's too—_

"Can... I come in?"

"Oh! Yeah, yeah come in." Cybil stepped aside.

"I'm Merle," said the cat as she breezed by.

"Cybil."

"That's a weird name," Merle said as she laid the tray of food on the bed. She tossed a neatly wrapped bundle of folded clothing next to it and then helped herself to a seat in a nearby chair, folding up her arms and looking at Cybil expectantly. Cybil closed the door and sat next to the tray. Cybil started to pick at the food, trying to avoid Merle's scrutinizing gaze. Merle leaned forward like she was listening to an exciting story.

"What's it like? Up there, the Mystic Moon or...Earth? Is it?" Cybil was surprised at herself that she was not expecting that question.

"Boring." She said with a shrug. Merle waited.

"Pointless." Cybil added, then, "Stupid. Everyone is an idiot." She stared at her food a bit, then finally realized something. "How did you know to call it Earth?"

"I have a friend up there." Merle replied casually, leaning back in the chair. "Her name is Hitomi. Maybe... when you go back... could you find her? Tell her we all miss her?"

"Heetohmee? Sounds weird. Sounds.... Japanese or something. If that's the case then she's on the other side of the world and I doubt I'd ever find her."

Merle looked defeated.

"But, hey, I'll give it a try," Cybil lied. She felt better to see Merle's face brighten again.

"Are you a fortune teller too?" Merle asked. Cybil replied in the negative, adding a question.

"Just 'cause Hitomi was," Merle answered, "I thought maybe all of you had that ability." They sat for a bit with Cybil nibbling at the food. More questions were exchanged; how many people on Earth had blue hair? What was it like to be a cat woman, and did the men go crazy for it? What was with those crazy clothes? What was the nature of Merle and Van's relationship?

"We're... friends. Childhood friends. Though I think Van thinks of me more like a sister."

"But...?" Cybil quizzed slyly, her posture adding _"you feel more, yes?"_ Merle blushed and looked embarrassed. Then she wondered how a stranger could catch on to that so quickly but Van could be so clueless. Maybe she was a fortune teller after all. Then Cybil asked about Fanelia.

"We were attacked, Fanelia burned to the ground. What happened next is a long story but King Van returned to reunite everyone and rebuild the city."

"Does the long story involve this Hitomi person?" Cybil asked. Merle smirked.

"Tell you what, Cyb. If King Van doesn't find a way to send you home tonight I'll take you to a really cool place and tell you the whole story from there. But now, you should eat and sleep and relax. King's orders!" She said this last bit with a little salute and then she marched out. Cybil smiled.

"Cyb," she repeated with a chuckle.

_This girl. I like._


End file.
